When Plans Change
Last week, Mark and I were able to celebrate our ten year anniversary. Can you believe it?! TEN YEARS!
Sad story. When Mark and I were still in our very first year of marriage, we decided that for our ten year anniversary we would go on a special trip. And we’ve been planning it ever since.
We were going to go to Peru and Bolivia. It was going to be ten days of exploring and I was PUMPED! It was going to be my first time out of the country. We’ve been so excited. But as we our all know, 2020 was not what any of us expected. When it came time to book our trip, we just didn’t feel good about it. We then thought we would try and go somewhere stateside, but that just wasn’t feeling great either. There were options, but we just didn’t want to go anywhere “COVID-style”.
So we decided to stay close to home. And Jackson won out!
As we were driving up, Mark teased me by saying “I don’t even know who you are anymore”. Why did he say this? Because I did not have one. single. thing. planned. I love planning vacations. It seriously brings me joy.
But I just didn’t have it in me this time. The week before our trip I was definitely at the end of my rope. I just felt like I was drowning and this trip couldn’t have come at a better time. I needed a reset. And this was the perfect trip for that. We had no pressure to do anything. We just did what we wanted, when we wanted to. Normally, I really don’t think I would enjoy this kind of travel, but that just tells you where my state of mind was! And since Jackson is local I wasn’t worried about missing out on things because we can easily go and visit again. It was a great set up!
Hello, Jackson!
My parents were so kind to come and watch the kids for the week. It was actually the hardest time I’ve ever had leaving the kids. This probably makes me sound horrible, but I usually don’t struggle too much. But I seriously considered taking Lydia with us more than once. We missed the kids like crazy but I knew Mark and I needed some alone time.
Once we got settled into our hotel, we headed into town to eat some delicious pizza.
Grand Teton National Park
Our first day we went into Grand Teton National Park. This park is just unbelievable. The views are stunning. More than once we talked about my Grandpa Moldenhauer who climbed the Tetons in his 60s. It is an amazing accomplishment and I thought of him often while we were there.
We drove up into the north part of the park and decided to hike in Colter Bay. This is nestled up against frozen Jackson Lake. This place was definitely secluded. So secluded, in fact, that we never saw another human being. No other cars. Nothing!
We found the trailhead, but there was no other sign of a trail. So we truly became TRAILBLAZERS! I will say the solitude and peace was unbelievable, but I think Mark and I had a couple moments of concern because we were just winging it! We occasionally would find some signs indicating that we were on a path but for more than half the time we were just going off our gut. This hike was beautiful and was definitely my favorite from our trip. The blue skies, green trees, bright white snow was perfection.
National Elk Refuge
The next day, Mark and I went to do a sleigh ride at the National Elk Refuge. This was such a fun experience. The elk are just incredible.
We spent the rest of the day enjoying Jackson Square. We had fun just browsing through the stores with no timetable at all. We easily spent the most time at a toy store. Children at heart? Both of us could not get the kiddos out of our mind and it was such a fun store. We are already trying to figure out what level of craziness it is to take the kids up there just so we can take them to this store.
Polecat Creek
The next day we woke up to some seriously cold temperatures. We decided to just hang out in the hotel in the morning and play some games. I felt kind of silly bringing board games on our trip – but I am so glad we did! We love playing games and it was nice to have something extra to do!
Around lunch time, we decided to hit the trails again. We drove back up to the north end of Grand Teton to the Flagg Ranch area. We decided to do the Polecat Creek Loop trail. This trail was a lot different than the previous one we had done. The worst part was that it looked like someone had come through with just boots on, and so there were huge holes everywhere which made it tricky to walk in our snowshoes.
All of this was worth it though, because we had some amazing wildlife experiences. There was a beautiful pond with trumpeter swans that were just beautiful to watch. But the crowning jewel was when we saw our fox. We had stopped to look at our map and all of a sudden I looked up and a fox was walking right towards us!
We couldn’t leave! It was just beautiful and I am in awe that wildlife can live in such an environment. It was definitely a highlight of our trip. Shortly after our encounter with the fox, I just started getting a unsettled feeling. It was cold, the sky was turning dark, and we were due for a storm and I just felt like we needed to make our way back. So sadly, we backtracked and didn’t finish our loop.
We made our way back into town, grabbed some dinner to-go, and hunkered down for the storm!
Anniversary
Our last day was our “official” anniversary. A big storm was going and so we just stayed inside (our mini van is not the most reliable winter vehicle!). Our board games proved their worth again and we just took it easy. Finally, we decided to at least leave and get some dinner. We had a delicious dinner in town!
The next day, we hit the road early and made it home to our sweet kiddos. It was so good to be with them again, but we are so grateful for this time that we were able to have together.
Mark and I talked a lot about highlights. The good and the bad. We have so much to be grateful for. We’ve had our fair share of heartache and disappointments but there has been a whole lot of good, too. The best part of the last ten years…our four most wonderful children. I am grateful every day to be a wife and mother. This anniversary is for Mark and I, but it’s also for our family. Our family started ten years ago and it fills me with the greatest of joys. So happy tenth anniversary to us.
BONUS!
Here is a video of our trip!
